Haloarcula

In taxonomy, Haloarcula is a genus of the Halobacteriaceae.

Haloarcula
Scientific classification
Domain:
Archaea
Kingdom:
Euryarchaeota
Phylum:
Euryarchaeota
Class:
Halobacteria
Order:
Halobacteriales
Family:
Halobacteriaceae
Genus:
Haloarcula

Torreblanca et al. 1986 emend. Oren et al. 2009[1]
Species

Description and significance

Haloarcula species are extreme halophilic archaea. They are distinguished from other genera in the family Halobacteriaceae by the presence of specific derivatives of TGD-2 polar lipids. Currently, seven recognized species are in the genus: H. vallismortis, H. marismortui, H. hispanica, H. japonica, H. argentinensis, H. mukohataei, and H. quadrata. H. quadrata was first isolated when researchers were attempting to culture Haloquadratum walsbyi, a haloarchaeon that was thought to be unculturable until 2004. H. quadrata has predominantly flat, square-shaped, somewhat pleomorphic cells.[2] H. marismortui has one of the only two prokaryotic large ribosomal subunits which have so far been crystallized. The other one is Deinococcus radiodurans.

Haloarcula species grow optimally at 40–45 °C. Growth appears in sheets of up to 65 cells often in the shape of a square or triangle.

Ecology

Haloarcula species are found in neutral saline environments such as salt lakes, marine salterns, and saline soils. Like other members of the family Halobacteriaceae, Haloarcula requires at least 1.5 M NaCl for growth, but grow optimally in 2.0 to 4.5 M NaCl.[1]

References
  1. See the NCBI webpage on Haloarcula. Data extracted from the "NCBI taxonomy resources". National Center for Biotechnology Information. Retrieved 2007-03-19.
  2. Oren, A.; Ventosa, A.; Gutierrez, M. C.; Kamekura, M. (1999). "Haloarcula quadrata sp. nov., a square, motile archaeon isolated from a brine pool in Sinai (Egypt)". International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology. 49 (3): 1149–1155. doi:10.1099/00207713-49-3-1149. PMID 10425773.

Further reading


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.